OPPOSITES
by Kedrex
Summary: They are complete opposites. She absolutely loves Sunny days, but he loves being in the darkness. While she is tidy and organized, he remains messy and cluttered. She remains ever so cheerful and compassionate, while he is rude and angry. Rated T for mild language.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST DAY

The first day at a new school was never a pleasant Idea for 17 year old Vanitas Void. He would rather sleep all day and go out at night, but this wasn't Twilight Town, where the city was so big that he could go anywhere and the chances of anyone finding him were microscopically slim, to none. This new home of his was comprised out of Islands. Way too small for the same percentage of escape, and way too open to hide anywhere.

As he sat in his new class seat in the back of the class room, he observed his new school uniform. A dress code was not his style. While most students wore a white button up shirt and blue tie, he wore a black shirt and red tie. The girls wore plaid skirts, while the boys wore either navy or plaid dress pants. Vanitas on the other hand wore black pants. The first day of school, and he's already facing detention for violating the dress code, but he couldn't care less if his life depended on it.

He ran his hand through his spiky black hair as he tried to stay awake. Other people were still up talking, while he just wanted to let his yellow eyes close and pass out. He couldn't grasp why people got so excited on the first day of school. He looked at the clock noticing that it was 20 minutes until class actually started. 'Might as well grab some more shut eye while I can,' he thought to himself.

As Vanitas laid his head down on his desk the class representative walked into the class. She conformed to the typical dress code for the school with a green arm band on her left arm, signifying her authority as class rep. She walked through with black hair that just barely went past her shoulders, and eyes as blue as the sea. Everyone welcomed her with a smile and hellos. She returned the greetings by smiling and socializing. "How was your summer Xion," asked her best friend Roxas. His hair looked like a mixture of spiky hair and the force of a twister which matched well with his blue eyes.

"It was terrific," Xion happily answered. She then noticed that there was a student in the back of the class with familiar spiky. That hair style looked extremely like her friend, Sora's, so much that she couldn't help but smile. "Is that Sora in the back? Why'd he dye his hair? And since when is he so exhausted that he sleeps on the first day back?"

Roxas laughed at her questions. "That's not Sora. That's his cousin from Twilight Town. His family just moved here." In Xion's eyes, a new student was another friendly face she just hadn't met yet. Though most of the time the faces she saw were still facing forward, instead of facing down on the desk. "Word is that he already got detention for wearing something that wasn't approved for the dress code."

Xion wasn't surprised. The school was very strict about following rules. Had she broken even one rule, and been caught, she would lose her position as class rep in a heartbeat. "I'm gonna say hello." She gracefully walked over to the sleeping boy with the idea that she could get him to follow the rules. She gently poked his right arm, which at first did nothing. "Excuse me." Vanitas rose his drowsy eyes to look at the one intruding apon his rest. "Hello, I'm your class rep, Xion Crown." She extended her hand in greeting.

Vanitas just looked at her blankly. What was he supposed to do? Interacting with respectable people wasn't his thing. He'd much rather have her just go away, but she just kept smiling with her hand dangling in front of his face. He reluctantly shook her hand. "Vanitas Void," he blankly stated.

Xion smiled brighter at this accomplishment. "It's very nice to meet you Vani."

"Don't you dare call me that," he snapped. Xion was shocked by his sudden outburst. Everyone in the class was now starring at the two of them. Xion never expected such a fuss over a nickname. Usually people would politely ask her not to call them whatever nickname she came up with.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Vanitas just scoffed at her and her apology. He laid his head back down on the desk and returned to his rest. He could feel the rest of the classroom glaring at him for snapping at their precious class rep, but he couldn't care less about it. They could hate him all they wanted. In the end, he didn't want to be in this school in the first place.

Xion got everyone to quit glaring quite easily. But she was confused as to why someone would just snap after being called a shorter version of their own name. Maybe he was just having a bad day, or maybe he was always like that. She had no idea.

Just as class was about to begin Xion assumed her duties as class rep by getting everyone to take their seats and quiet down. She'd gotten complete compliance from everyone, except for Vanitas. He still had his head firmly planted on his desk. She reluctantly walked over to him, feeling all eyes watching her. She was the kindest girl in the class getting ready to wake up a potential monster from slumber. This meant that if he snapped at her again, everyone else was likely to snap him.

She ever so slightly poked his arm again. "Excuse me Vanitas," she quietly spoke. "Class is about to start. You should really wake up."

Vanitas peeked above his arm to see the same intruder from before. He lowered his head again and through his arm muffled, "Bite me."

Xion had official conformation. He wasn't just having a bad day, he was just plain rude. Normally she would've been the kindest and sweetest girl in the room, but she was class rep for a reason. She could be the toughest as well, and as class rep could assign detention to fellow classmates. "Excuse me?! What was that? You wanna repeat that last bit?!"

Vanitas then stood up just enough to meet her at eye level. "I said BITE ME!"

"Do you want detention?!"

"I don't know! Will it get me away from you?!"

"How's another day sound?!"

"Bring it on! I got nothing better to do!"

"Fine! In addition you can spend your Saturday cleaning the school gym!"

"What in the world is going on in here," shouted their English 11 teacher, Ienzo Zexion, or as everyone else called him, Zexion, as he walked into the room. Xion immediately stiffened up when she heard him loudly close the book he was holding when he walked in. "Miss Crown, do you mind telling me why you and Mr. Void are fighting in my classroom?"

Xion respected Zexion more than any other teacher in the school. Being in trouble with him was the worst thing for her. "Because I chose to be an ass," Vanitas admitted. Xion and the rest of the class redirected their attention to him in shock. He wasn't trying to hide that he was at fault. Everyone could hate him for all he cared, but no one would call him out and inadvertently call him a coward for not admitting it.

"I see," Zexion spoke. "In that case, you'll be spending tomorrow after school in this classroom serving detention. Do you understand?"

"Whatever," Vanitas answered calmly. He then quietly sat back in his seat. "Like I said, I got nothing better to do."

Xion felt dumbfounded. Zexion spoke calmly throughout the entire fiasco and managed to keep Vanitas in line with only a few words. "Now then class, let's get started. As most of you know I am Ienzo Zexion. Your English 11 teacher. Please refer to me as Zexion."

Xion took her usual seat at the front of the class. Every now and then she'd turn her head just enough to catch Vanitas in her peripheral vision. He didn't have his head down, but his eyes were closed and he was wearing earbuds.

Vanitas would occasionally open one of his eyes and glance at the clock. One time he actually noticed Xion looking at him. All he wanted was to be left alone, but he saw a future where she'd be the bane of his existence every time the were in the same classroom. Vanitas pulled out his I-pod and switched to some older music. He couldn't stand half of the most recent music out there. He preferred 90's and early 2000's music over the newer stuff, as it was one of the only things that kept him relaxed. The first song on his playlist, Tourniquet by Evanescence. To him good music was good music. It didn't matter how many songs or followers they had, or how old the band was. The quality was the best part to him.

When class ended Xion gathered her materials and put them away neatly in her purple backpack. Vanitas on the other hand hadn't even opened his black backpack. He'd kept his eyes closed for nearly the entire lesson. He picked up his bag and walked over to Xion. He was going to say something but Xion cut him off. "Listen, I'm sorry for the way I acted to you," she respectfully apologized. "As class rep it's my job to make sure that all students are doing their best, and that includes you, but that was still no way to behave. So I'm sorry."

Vanitas pondered over the new apology she offered him. No one had ever tried to get on his good side after an incident like earlier. "Whatever," he responded. He could tell that she was annoyed by his obvious unappreciation of her humble apology. He began walking off but stopped and turned his head a bit. "Just so you know, I saw you watching me." With that he resumed walking out the door.

Her face went a little red. She thought he'd had his eyes closed for the entire lesson. She certainly never caught him with his eyes open. She followed him into the hall to give him a piece of her mind again, but instantly lost him amongst the crowd of students. 'How could I lose a guy with hair that spiky,' she thought to herself.

Next class was chemistry with Even Vexen. Xion had no real problems with Vexen, but she did find his obsession in chemicals a little disturbing. When she walked into the classroom, she saw lab equipment already out on the tables, most of which she recognized. It all looked like materials used for making makeshift batteries. She saw Vexen over at his desk looking disappointed. "Hello Vexen. How are you doing?" There was no response from him. "Is something wrong sir?"

He let out a big sigh. "No one will be excited for the first lab of the year," he answered. Xion didn't get what he was talking about. "The school board said that I can't make anything fancy for the first lab of the year. Instead I have to downgrade the experiment severely. Making batteries is the best that I'm allowed to start with."

Xion understood the school's decision completely. Last year when his class had their first lab they applied phenylacetic acid, which a student dropped, causing let's just say, a serious problem. "Well sir, I'm sure batteries will be a great first experiment for the class."

His face lit up like Christmas. "You're sure?"

"Of course. Most of the student coming in to your class this year haven't done chem. lab classes before. It'll be a new experience for them."

"You're right!" He stood up looking confident. "Science is beautiful no matter what form it takes. The smaller you start, the higher you go!"

Xion held in her laughter. Seeing Vexen's passion for science explode was pure comedy to her. "Well, I'll just take my seat now."

"Actually Xion, I'm assigning seats this year. Here's the seating chart." He handed her a paper that show 6 rows each with 4 tables, seating two students per. "Whoever you're sitting with on the chart will be your lab partner for the remainder of the school year."

Xion observed the chart and found her name. Row 2, table 3, left seat. She then noticed the name set next to hers. The person who would be her lab partner for the rest of the year, Vanitas Void. She prayed she was wrong, but when she looked over to where she'd be sitting, her fears became realized. There he was, leaning back in his chair with ear buds in his ears, and with his eyes closed, again. 'Why,' she wondered. 'Why did it have to be him? All he does is sleep!'

She wanted to protest being his lab partner, but she knew that once Vexen made up his mind, unless you had higher authority than him, it would not change. She eased her way over to her new seat as the other students started to fill in the classroom. He hadn't moved an inch since she sat down. Class was about to begin and he was still keeping his eyes closed. If she listened well enough, she could faintly hear the music blasting in his ears. She knew that she couldn't just let him sleep again, so she decided to wake him up. She extended her arm to wake him.

"Poke me again, and it'll be worse than last time," he bluntly stated, without even opening his eyes. Xion practically jump when he spoke. There was no indication that he was even aware of what was going on around him.

Vanitas opened his eyes to see his new lab partner looking away from him. He was not looking forward to this. Now that her grade depended on him actually being in class, he knew that she wouldn't just let him sleep. That's the way it was in his head. If you surviving, or in this case passing, depends on using someone else, you'll use them without hesitation. "Look," he continued. "I know that you'll basically give me hell for sleeping if your grade in specific is on the line. So at the very least, I'll work with you here."

Xion wasn't sure what to say. It sounded selfish but also truly sincere. What was with this guy? One second he was a total jerk, and the next he's actually courteous? Was this the same person she just had a blow out with before her last class? No. It had to be an alien clone made to trick people into believing that he was a decent human being.

"All right class, settle down," Vexen said trying to get the class to be quiet. "Class." No response. The class kept their conversations going. "Class if you would quiet down."

Nothing was working, until everyone heard a loud whistling sound. Xion looked to her lab partner to see that it was him. "Shut up," he said blankly.

The class immediately quieted down. "Thank you Vanitas," Vexen said. "Now, for all who don't know, I am Dr. Even Vexen, or Vexen for short, and I'm your chemistry teacher. For today, we'll be making batteries from the materials I've left on each of your desks. Instructions for which will be on page 4 of your chemistry books. Do this correctly and you'll receive an A+ for the day. The team that finishes an exceptional battery first will receive extra credit for later in the year. Nonetheless I wish you all good luck. Begin."

Xion reached for the book in her bag. When she pulled it out, she noticed that Vanitas was already working on the battery. "What are you doing," she hissed.

"Our assignment," he answered. "The sooner we get it done, the sooner I can get back to doing my own thing."

"You need to read the instructions first." Vanitas didn't stop working, even with her hounding him on reading the instructions first. "Why won't you read them?"

"We're making a battery, not a rocket ship." Xion looked into the book and compared the instructions with what Vanitas was doing. Surprisingly he was performing the assignment perfectly. "Hand me that copper over there."

"Okay," Xion complied. She felt unusual not reading the instructions before working on the assignment, but found that this actually was working quite well. The two of them worked perfectly together. Xion had done this experiment back in 8th grade, and now it was all coming back to her. The class was going to be 50 minutes long, but within 20 minutes, they were already done. "Excuse me sir. We've finished our battery."

"Already," he questioned. He walked over to their table with a small machine. "This will test the output of your battery. If the light turns from red to green, then it means you've made an exceptional battery." Xion was a little nervous. What if it wasn't made right and she just wasted 20 minutes making a dud. 15 seconds had gone by and to her surprise, the light changed. "Perfect! That's an A+ as well as extra credit for later down the road. You never know when you'll need it."

People from Xion's first class just starred at the two of them in disbelief. They had all been thinking the same thing Xion had. The same guy that treated her like crap earlier was directly responsible for getting the work done the fastest, and perfectly?

"Um," Xion began to say with a smile, "thank you for helping me Vanitas. Thanks for putting your classmates first."

"Shut up," he replied as he leaned back in his chair, putting the ear buds back in his ears. "I didn't do it for you. I did it so you'd stay off my case while I catch some more shut eye." He then instantly played more music, drowning out all outside noise.

"What did you just say to me?" Vanitas didn't open his eyes or respond. "Helloooooo!" She was clearly getting frustrated. She could feel the other students starring at her. "FOCUS ON YOUR OWN WORK!" Every student immediately went back to their own assignments.

Vanitas peeked at the display of anger radiating from his own class rep. The display actually amused him enough t make him slightly chuckle. No one in the class seemed to notice.

 **A/N: I had the idea for this story recently and was too excited to wait to make it. So here it is. I'm gonna try to work on Heart Of Freedom simultaneously with this story. Any way let me know what you thought of the first chapter of this new story in the review box! And Happy Holidays to all!**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: MORTAL ENEMIES

Gym class was next for Xion. She met up with her two friends Namine, a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes, and Kairi, a girl with shoulder length auburn hair and blue eyes. "It's really great that the three of us are in this class together," Kairi chirped.

"I know what you mean," Namine replied. "Hey Xion, I heard you had some trouble with a new student that looks like Sora in your first two classes. Is that true?"

Xion shrugged her shoulders and gave a goofy grin. "Yeah, unfortunately," she answered. "He was quite the nuisance, but he was nothing I couldn't handle."

"That not what I heard," Kairi said nudging Xion's arm with her elbow. "I heard you lost your cool, over one single boy."

Xion didn't like where Kairi's imagination was obviously going. "What are you talking about?" Kairi just giggled at Xion's mild confusion. "NUH UH! NO WAY! AS IF! He's rude, arrogant, inconsiderate, and completely disobeys the the rules of the school!"

"Even when he's not here, he's still getting you riled up." Xion's face went blood red.

"Do you want to join him in detention?"

"Ha! You can't put me into detention for telling the truth."

Xion gave up. Kairi knew every loophole in the book. "I think you mean having an opinion Kairi. I'm just glad he's not in this class. I have enough to deal with when it's only you." Namine giggled at her friend's display of relief. No one had ever gotten under her skin like this before. The fact that he managed to do it in under 24 hours had to be a new record.

As the class got ready for the first gym class of the year, Aeleus Lexaeus walked into the gym room. "Settle down everyone," he commanded. When he spoke his voice boomed through the gym like a speaker. "Now listen up, you are to refer to me as either Lexaeus or sir. Don't even think about calling me names like homie or dawg." Most of the class was snickering. Hardly anyone said stuff like that anymore. "Now, since today is the first day, I don't care what you do today so long as you're moving around."

With that every student got moving. Some grabbed basketballs and began playing games of 5 on 5. Other students just walked or ran around the court. Xion, Kairi, and Namine were among the numbers walking.

"So Namine," Xion spoke happily. "You're taking your third art class this year right?" Namine simply nodded. She didn't like to talk all too much. "Why am I not surprised? You never could resist whenever it came down to art classes. Or maybe it's because of a certain guy we both know? He's been taking those classes too."

"W-What are you implying," Namine questioned. "I don't have any kind of crush on Roxas!"

"I never said you did. I didn't even mention Roxas." Namine's face went blood red. Kairi and Xion burst out laughing. "Don't worry little Nami. We won't say a word to him." Namine smiled soft heartedly. Xion was enjoying herself, until she looked down on the ground and saw the shadow of a boy with spiky hair. 'No... No. NO NO NO,' she thought to herself. 'There's no way that he's in this class too! My luck can not be this bad!' She turned her head to the approaching figure expecting the bane of her existence, but was happily surprised by someone else. He had spiky hair as well, but his was brown, and complimented by blue eyes. "Sora!"

"Hey Xion," he greeted happily. "Are you okay? You look like you were expecting the apocalypse or something."

"Oh I'm fine. I just thought you were someone else for a second."

"Let me guess. My nightmare of a cousin?"

"Yeah. You guessed it."

"Don't worry about him. I know he's difficult, but once you get to know him, he's actually a nice guy."

"Really?"

"Hell no," Sora dead panned. "As long as you don't poke the bear he won't bite." Xion was not amused by Sora's joke. "Anyway, Lexaeus wants to speak to you. You're not in trouble or anything. He just wants to talk to you about something. He's over there by the door."

Xion looked over to their teacher standing by the door. She walked over there expecting something bad to happen. "Ah, and how is my lovely niece today," he asked with a smile.

"We're in school Lexaeus. Please don't act like that here."

"Fine fine. Anyway, the reason why I asked you over her was because we have a student missing. I've counted the total number of students here, and everyone's here except for that one student. I know he's shown up to his other classes, but he hasn't shown up."

"What's this student's name? If he's ditching, then I should have a good idea where he is."

Lexaeus looked at his check sheet and read the name aloud. "Ah, here it is. Vanitas Void."

Xion's perfect gym class image was instantly shattered 'No,' she thought. 'Anyone but him. Why did it have to be him? Why not a slacker like Demyx? At least then not only would I know where to look, but I'd also get treated with respect.' Xion had no idea where to even start looking for a delinquent like Vanitas. "Well sir, I don't know too much about Vanitas. Other than the fact that he's lazy, likes to sleep, and he listens to music... Oh and he's the most rude person I've ever met!"

"Then never mind. He is a new student here, so even if you are the class rep, I shouldn't expect you to really know anything about him. Very well, get back to your exercises."

Xion returned to walking around the court. It didn't make sense to her. Why skip gym class when he showed up to all the other classes, and early at that? She kept circling in silence until she passed by the middle section of the left bleachers. As she passed, she heard a noise coming from them. She looked behind her to see Lexaeus talking to another student. With him distracted she moved out of eye sight to the far side of the bleachers. She couldn't see much under them, due to a lack of lighting. She focused a bit and noticed a figure further in with a spiky head emitting a sound, snoring.

She knew exactly who it was. She crawled in under neath to get closer and see the rule breaker. The further in she got, the more her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Eventually the dark figure noticed her existence and grunted. "You gotta be kidding me," it said. "Do you just get your kicks out of ruining my life?"

"I knew it was you Vanitas."

"How in the hell did you even know I was down here?"

"You snore. Now c'mon, you don't get to skip out on classes."

"Mind _your_ own business."

"How 'bout _you_ quit being lazy?!"

"And how 'bout _you_ suck my-"

"Don't even think about saying it!" She then grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out.

"Hey! Let me go!" He tugged back on his arm, insistent on staying put.

"No! You're coming with me!" She tugged at his arm even harder.

"DAMMIT LET ME GO!" He pulled his arm back as hard as he could. As as result he ended up pulling Xion down as well. She had no chance to recover from being pulled so quickly. As a result, she landed on top of him, with her lips smashing into his.

The two of them just laid there for a moment. It took a few moments to comprehend exactly what was going on. When they both did, their faces turned redder than any shade of red they'd ever seen.

"AH YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME," Vanitas complained.

"YOU?! YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE," Xion accused.

"As if I would ever do something like that with you! If you had just left me alone, none of this would be happening!"

"What's going on down here," Lexaeus screamed. "Oh Xion, you found him. Hiding under the bleachers this entire time huh?"

"Damn," Vanitas said. "Guess there's no use in staying here." He passed right by Lexaeus then stopped. "So I take it that this is another detention?"

"If it turned out you were skipping class, then yes. However since you _did_ show up, you just have to get down to moving."

"Whatever."

He was really pissing off Xion with that word. Before he walked off Xion spoke up. "Hey! From now on we're mortal enemies!"

Vanitas didn't turn to face her. "Why exactly?"

"Because you piss me off!"

He turned his head slightly enough to look at her. He seemed completely uncaring of her declaration of hatred. "Whatever." He continued walking and joined rest of the class.

"He infuriates me so much," Xion hissed.

Lexaeus let out a laugh. "You can't expect every student to be capable of falling in line whenever you want. Especially when they don't respect you. Vanitas is still a new student here."

"That does not excuse his behavior. I don't care if he's a new student or not." Lexaeus sighed in defeat. "I'm just gonna get back to class."

The rest of gym for both Vanitas and Xion was just walking around the court while other people played basketball. However Xion kept trying to circle around back to Vanitas to give him a piece of her mind, but every time she got close, Vanitas managed to blend in with other students and sneak back behind her. By the time she realized where he was, she was already on the other side of the room.

Vanitas wasn't stupid. He'd learned how to blend in with people with easy in Twilight Town. Falling back enough to escape her sight range was as simple as breathing. When class was over, he escaped into the halls, blending into the crowd. While other people were bumping into each other, Vanitas was maneuvering past every student as though he was a leaf in the wind. He soon entered into his next class, Geometry. As expected, he was the first one to show up.

He looked on the teacher's desk to see a seating chart. On it was 7 rows of 4 desks per. He found his name in the 6th row back, 3rd seat right. He observed the rest of the chart, looking for any names of consequence. Two names in specific stuck out to him. Sora Hikari, his cousin, in row 5 seat 2. And the bane of his existence, Xion Crown, in row 7 seat 3. Another class with that pest meant a huge headache was bound to happen.

He took his seat, waiting for the inevitable clash of titans to commence again. With her right behind him, war was bound to break out. He waited for the students to walk in. Students passed by without entering the class. He didn't bother putting his head down again. He wanted to be ready for when she arrived.

As expected, she was the next student to enter the room. She felt her face go red, but instead of turning away, she gave Vanitas a death glare. To which he simply smirked with an evil look. He already had a few good moments of sleep. Now he was ready for the upcoming war.

Xion took her seat right behind him. "If we're seriously mortal enemies from this point on," he said turning his head, "then I gotta warn ya. I fight pretty damn dirty."

Xion understood his challenge. "If you think I'll stand for any of your rule breaking tactics, then you have another thing coming. Oh, and one more thing. Quit using that foul language! You're in school! That kind of language is not tolerated!"

"Hmph. Bite me."

Very soon Sora walked in on the heated conversation. "Are you two really at it again already? I swear you two really seem to hate each other."

"Your cousin and I are mortal enemies now Sora," Xion said. "From this point on, it's basically war."

Sora put his hand to his face in defeat. "You two are absolutely hopeless."

"Don't look at me," Vanitas said. "She started all of this when she chose to target me."

"I did not," Xion protested.

"Enough," Sora screamed. "Look, given how you two reacted in gym I'd prefer keeping the insanity down to a minimum. Do you two think you can handle that for the next hour?" Xion and Vanitas gave each other blank looks and nodded their heads. "Good. With Larxene as our teacher, we're in for enough of a hellish class as it is."

Xion did exactly as Sora advised her to do. By refusing to poke at Vanitas, or the bear, everything ended up going smoothly. But one peaceful class wouldn't stop a war from brewing.

 **A/N: Not much to say about this chapter other than it felt a little shorter than I wanted it to be. Hope you enjoyed! And happy New Year to everyone! Be sure to drop a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: FOOD FIGHT

Lunch had finally rolled around and Xion could not be happier, except for the fact that the menu's best dish was meat loaf, corn, and mashed potatoes. Her responsibilities hardly even mattered when lunch time came around. She scanned the cafeteria for any signs of one Mr. Void, but didn't see him anywhere. She wasn't sure whether to feal relieved or worried. On the one hand, he wasn't going to be able to bother her. On the other hand, he could be setting fire to the school, or something else.

"Xion," Kairi spoke loudly, breaking her out of her daze. "Are you okay? You've been starring into space ever since you walked into the cafeteria."

"I'm fine," Xion smiled reassuringly. "I'm just on the lookout for trouble."

Kairi let out a small giggle. "So _he's_ on your mind again huh? Are you sure you don't have a crush on him?"

Xion kept from getting all flustered again. She didn't want to give Kairi the satisfaction of getting her embarrassed again. "Nice try Kairi, but you're not getting any kind of reaction out of me now." Kairi was right about him being on her mind, but only because she was afraid of what a delinquent like him could be doing. Then again at worst he'd probably just end up in the library taking a nap. At least there he couldn't really cause any trouble.

"Hey Xion," Roxas called from their usual table next to the window. Next to him sat Axel, a senior with long spiky red hair and green eyes. "We saved you a seat!"

"Okay," she responded. She then looked over at Sora's table, where he and his best friend, Riku were having lunch with their usual gang. "Well I'll see you after lunch Kairi." Kairi looked almost disappointed to be sent away. "Don't give me that look. If you want Sora to be your boyfriend then you have to at least be willing to sit with him. That's like relationship 101."

"I know," she said with a soft smile. "I mean, we just made it official so I don't really know what I'm supposed to do."

"Well you have more experience than I do." The remark put a smile on Kairi's face. Everyone Xion knew liked her for a reason. She knew exactly what to say and when to say it. Xion then joined her friends. "So how have you guys been today?"

"Well, Axel didn't set the chemistry lab on fire this year in Vexen's class," Roxas joked. He was boosted up to senior chemistry due to being so advanced in the class.

"One time Roxas. Once," Axel defended. "Besides, I don't even like chemistry. If it wasn't a requirement I'd completely abandon it."

The three of them just laughed aloud. Xion had known the two of them for eight years. Life was easiest for her around them. "Hey, I have student a council meeting after school today, so I need to push hanging out an hour back."

"Are you kidding," Axel complained. "Just skip it! There's gotta be plenty of those boring meetings during the year. Who cares if you miss one?"

"Give her a break Axel," Roxas spoke up. "I'm pretty sure she can't miss the very first meeting of the year."

Xion was happy that she had such great friends. Roxas was always the one that understood her, while Axel was the one that helped her unwind. "He's right Axel. The class rep can't miss meetings just to get some ice cream with her friends early."

"Ah, you two are no fun."

The three of them burst into laughter. Xion could live like this forever. The only thing hindering her happiness, was the lack of her least favorite classmate. Not knowing what he was doing drove her crazy. She scanned the lunch room again, looking for that black spiky hair. For a moment she thought she saw him, but it was just Zack Fair.

She couldn't understand how this guy managed to keep hidden. Then again, she was probably the only one looking for him. Eventually she ended up looking out the window. She wondered if she was being too crazy about one student. She had almost given up on locating him, until she looked at the shadows on the ground. She practically memorized the position and shape of every shadow that appeared there, but now there was an anomaly. Now there was a spiky headed shadow. He was up on the roof, where students weren't allowed. By instinct Xion got up, ready to go after him.

"Where are you going," Roxas asked.

"Just performing my duties as class rep." She then took off in the direction of the obvious suspect. Going up three flights of stairs gave her plenty of frustration to unleash on her target. As the rooftop door came into her view, she continued her charge. She pushed the door open, finding the one and only, Vanitas, eating a sandwich by the railing.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he complained. "What do I have to do to get away from you?!" She felt like she should be the one asking that. He kept getting into situations that ultimately ended up dragging her into the mix. "Look, I just wanna spend my lunch in peace, so can you just go?" He then closed his eyes to keep from looking at what he deemed to be an eyesore.

"You can do that in the cafeteria with the rest of the students." She couldn't tell at first, but he had those stupid earphones in again. There was no way he heard anything she said. "Okay, if that's how you wanna play it." She walked over and yanked the music player away from him.

"Hey! Give that back!" Xion did her best to keep it away from him but he was taller, stronger, and had a farther reach than her. Eventually he managed to take it back. "If you ever touch this again, you'll regret it."

Xion was fed up. She then grabbed him by the arm. "That's it, you're coming with me to the principle's office."

"The hell I am!" He then yanked his arm away and took off running. All he wanted was to be left alone. This girl was relentless. Most of all, she was fast enough to actually keep up with him. No matter where he ran she was right on his heels. Eventually he lead her into the cafeteria. She was fast enough to keep up with him, sure, but could he'd already proved that he could blend into crowds well enough to escape her. As he ran through the cafeteria, he grabbed someone's meat loaf and chucked it across the room screaming, "FOOD FIGHT!"

It didn't take long for everything to go out of control. Food was flying everywhere, and Vanitas made it out of the room, unscathed. He felt almost proud of his escape tactic. He felt even better knowing that the tactic not only got him away from the Crown girl, but there was no way she was coming out of that room without being covered in meat loaf, milk, and everything else being thrown in the air. Part of him wanted to stay and observe his work, but he had an alibi to maintain. Before going to the roof he went to the library, on the second floor, and snuck out the window, which then lead to him climbing up a nearby pipe. He knew if he got caught by Crown that he'd need a fall back.

Luckily the librarian hadn't moved from her spot the entire time. She never knew he left the library, which worked perfectly in his favor. He gathered up his supplies and made sure to be in the field of vision of the librarian. "Thanks for letting my hang around here ma'am," he spoke.

The brunette smiled at him. "Oh don't worry about it. Most people don't come in here, so it is a nice place to be in peace. And please don't call me ma'am. Just call me Aerith."

Vanitas nodded in silence. He then headed off to his next class, History. As he passed by the cafeteria he saw that the chaos had died down, and now teachers were trying to sort out the problem. The site amused him greatly. He continued on to his next class in blissful silence, aside from the Theory of a Deadman song, Lowlife, playing in his ears. When he finally arrived to the classroom he noticed that the teacher wasn't in. He figured he must be dealing with the cafeteria massacre. He looked on the desk to see the list of students. His name was on this one, so he looked through the rest of it, not looking for multiple names of consequence, but just one. He looked through the list twice but he was relieved to see that her name was not on the list. Finally a little bit of luck. Maybe he could finally relax.

He took a seat in the back of the class and for the first time today, didn't feel like sleeping. He'd just gotten away with the best food fight creation unscathed.

"THERE HE IS," he heard over the music playing in his ears. He noticed the Crown girl covered in meat loaf, mashed potatoes, with some corn in the potatoes, and milk in her hair. It was all he did to keep from laughing. "HE'S THE ONE THAT STARTED THE FOOD FIGHT!"

"Did not," Vanitas defended. "Look Crown, I know you don't like me, but that doesn't give you the right to accuse me of starting a food fight."

"I told Principle Diz about how you were up on the roof, and how when I tried to bring you to him you started the food fight."

Vanitas looked past her to see the blonde, sage looking, man walking towards them. "Sir, I was in the library during lunch. You can ask Aerith herself."

"LIAR!"

Vanitas just smirked at her outburst. _He_ had an alibi. _He_ was never actually seen by anyone in the cafeteria, and was never seen leaving the library until _after_ the fight had started. He was completely covered. There was no evidence left on the roof for her to use against him. "You say I was on the roof, but isn't that place off limits to students? How would you even know _if_ I was up there?"

"Because I _was_ up there," she answered. "That's where I found you!"

She'd fallen into his new trap. "Well well. The class rep breaking rules."

"Enough," Diz commanded. "I will check with Aerith about this. She doesn't lie, and if she can confirm your story, then you should have nothing to worry about."

Diz then left, leaving me with a food covered class rep. "This isn't over," she threatened.

"Sounds like someone's a sore loser. Don't worry, I'm sure round five will come soon enough. You said we were mortal enemies Crown. I'm just playing my part."

"You're pushing it, is what you're doing."

Vanitas just continued with his smirk. She had nothing that she could use to break him down. He had too much experience with getting out of trouble when he wanted to.

"He's clean," Diz said walking back in. He realized what he said and clarified. "I mean, Aerith confirmed that he was in the library from before the food fight began, all the way until after it ended."

Xion knew better, but had to admit that she was impressed that someone had managed to manipulate such a perfect set up. Vanitas was truly a genius worthy of her hatred. "I _will_ catch you," she said pointing her potato covered finger in his face. To get under her skin even more he decided to put his mouth around her finger and suck the potatoes off. The sudden act made Xion squeal and jump back. "Ugh! Gross!"

"Mmm. Potatoes."

Xion wanted to scream at him, but he had the upper hand. Anything else that she could throw at him would just serve as ammunition against her. She swallowed her anger and pride, and stomped away. She couldn't take it anymore. Her mind was racing at a million miles an hour. This guy was making a mockery of her, and she wanted to make an example out of him. He was now her goal. He would pay for everything he'd already done to her reputation.

"Xion," she heard behind her. She turned to see Aqua, the blue haired senior class rep, completely clean. There wasn't a single spec of food on her uniform. "What happened to you?"

"You weren't in the cafeteria today?"

"No, I was getting things ready for todays student council meeting. What happened?"

"A food fight, caused by a student in my class, and worst of all, he's getting away with it. He has a solid alibi from a teacher. And I have absolutely no evidence to support myself with."

"Sounds like you have your hands full," she said sympathetically. Aqua was one of the upper class women she knew and respected. "You know, I have an old uniform that would fit you in my locker if you want."

Xion raised her hand. "It's okay, I have my regular clothes in my locker. Pretty much everyone is going to be wearing regular clothes for the rest of the day."

"Well given the most recent events, I'll see if I can push the meeting to tomorrow. That way everyone can go home and take a shower after school." Aqua's sympathy helped Xion feel a little better. "I suspect a lot of people are gonna need one soon."

Vanitas waited in the classroom, enjoying the fact that he'd outsmarted not only Crown, but the entire school staff as well. This was an achievement worthy of an award to him. But he knew this meant war between him and the class rep, and he had four classes with her. He knew she would not let this go, and he didn't care.

Soon students began moving down the hallways, all dressed in different clothes, but none of them entered the classrooms. School had been let out early due to the smell of food covered teens. Vanitas waited for the students to clear out before leaving his seat. The last thing he wanted was to smell like all the others. Many people that passed by the room he was in and noticed him, gave him death glares. Vanitas had made his mark on the school. Xion told everyone that he was responsible for the fight, and even though many of them now knew, it didn't matter. He was still getting away with it. Normally he wouldn't have cared, but this was too good not to enjoy.

Xion walked among the other student in anger, disgust, and stink. Having milk poured on her was starting to reek. She'd get revenge for this if it was the last thing that she did. She'd have Vanitas under her thumb one way or another. The only problem was that he was more clever than her usual trouble makers. He wasn't just at the top level, he had his very own level higher than the others. But each level has support holding it, and she knew once that support was compromised, the entire structure would come crumbling down. One little piece of leverage was all she needed.

Vanitas walked home instead of taking the bus. Not just because of the stink, but because he actually preferred walking. It gave him a better understanding of the area. When he got home, he was relieved to see that his old man wasn't home from work yet. At earliest he'd be back around nine, which gave Vanitas seven hours of sleep before he'd hit the town. He opened the door to the apartment to see it the exact way he expected it to be. Beer bottles all over the kitchen counter and next to his old mans chair. Cigarettes in the ash trays on the ground. The fridge door stood ajar meaning the food had most likely spoiled. Not much food to spoil though. The only stuff in there was more beer, with Bologna, and cheddar cheese.

Vanitas reached above the fridge to pull down a pack of pork ramen. It was about the only thing he could make now that the only other thing he could make was spoiled. He prepared his food and went into his room. His bed was tidy from him hardly sleeping in it, while his desk was cluttered. His computer however was a different story. Someone had broken the monitor on it, making it basically worthless. "Perfect," he said annoyed.

Xion's ride home was no fun matter. She had really been looking forward to the first day of junior year. One person had managed to ruin it all by himself in four different ways. As she walked off the bus filled with foul smelling people, she felt a great relief from fresh air. Her house looked exactly as it did when she left that very moment. Both of her parents cars were in the driveway, so that meant they were both at home. "Hello," she called as she opened the door. The first one to greet her was a playful black puppy. "Hey Cerberus! How's my widdle home protector?" Cerberus barked playfully as Xion scratched his head. "Mom, Dad, school let out early today."

"Okay honey," she heard her father call from his home office on the second floor.

"Xion, is that food in your hair," her mother asked from the kitchen. "What happened?"

"Some student decided to start a food fight on the first day, just to keep out of trouble," Xion explained. "90 percent of the students are covered in food. It's been a long day, so I'm just gonna go take a shower and do my homework. Okay?"

Vanitas woke up around 8:30. He grabbed his jacket and made his way to the front door and almost opened it, until he heard footsteps coming in his direction. He backed away from the door and heard the door knob shaking. He was glad he locked the door. Vanitas decided to take an alternate route out. He went back into his room and quietly closed the door.

"Stupid little bastard... Locking me out," Vanitas heard his father say. It was clear to Vanitas that his father was drunk again. "Where are you boy?" His father came into the room, but Vanitas had already made it out the window and was scaling down the pipe.

"Not today asshole," Vanitas said quietly.

Xion sat in her room pondering over the days events. She hoped tomorrow would be different.

Next thing she knew, the skype icon popped up on her laptop. She was getting a call from Roxas. "Hey Roxas," she said as she answered the call. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he replied. "So are you okay? Today wasn't exactly the best first day of school."

"I'm fine. I just wanna rip off that spiky headed piece of dog- Um, I mean I just wanna rip Vanitas's head."

Roxas started laughing at her irritation. "He's just one guy Xion."

"One guy that started a massive food fight with one piece of meat loaf. I've taken two showers and I can still smell the milk in my hair."

"Yeah and I still have some meat loaf in my pockets, which will come out. Temporary damage Xion."

"He completely ruined my reputation. How am I expected to get respect if I can't keep one student in line?"

"Calm down. Remember how long it took you to get Demyx under control? It'll just take some time."

"Demyx wasn't nearly this bad. I could keep him under control because all he did was listen to music, sleep, and mouth off. I took care of him Pretty quickly."

"You realize that you listed everything Vanitas did, aside from the food fight?"

Xion's face went a little red after that last statement. "Well... Vanitas is worse than Demyx ever was!"

Roxas broke out into laughter. "Well I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, same. Bye."

They ended their call, promting Xion to think about what he said. Vanitas was a case of disobedient student that she'd faced before. Just a much more extreme case.

Vanitas found himself in the less friendly part of the islands. While most of the islands looked like a tropical paradise, this part looked like the criminal neighborhood. Exactly where he wanted to be. It was almost like the places where he hid in Twilight Town. For the first time since he came to this place, he felt like he was in a place where he fit in.

 **A/N: Wow, one day and everyone in the school hates Vanitas, and Xion's already been made to look like a fool. I'll update asap. Feel free to drop a review as I do appreciate them.**


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: A NEW HOME

Vanitas found his way into a small neighborhood with houses, each covered in graffiti, along with broken windows. He simply kept walking along the street. "Now this feels more like home," Vanitas said aloud to himself.

It wasn't long until the rough part of the islands noticed Vanitas though. "Well well," a voice from behind him announced. "You just picked the wrong part of town to wind up in." Vanitas felt something being pushed against the back of his head. It was clear to him that it was a gun. "Now you'll be handing over you wallet and-" Vanitas cut him off by grabbing the gun and turning it on his assailant.

"Wanna bet?" Vanitas took a look at his would-be thug. He looked older than him with greasy black hair, brown eyes, dressed in black pants and a black hoodie. "You picked the wrong guy to mug. If this were Twilight Town you'd have been shot for pulling something like this. Not everyone can tell the difference between a real gun and an airsoft gun."

The man in the hood simply bursted with laughter. "Guess he was right about you," the man said as Vanitas tossed the airsoft gun back at him.

"Who was right about me? I don't like playing the pronoun game."

"I was right about you," someone from behind him spoke. This man was around the same age as Vanitas, but seemed older with silver bangs of hair, yellow eyes, and tanned skin. He was dressed in a sleeveless black top, with a sleeveless black trench coat accompanied by a red design, along with black pants and boots. "After the stunt you pulled in the cafeteria today at school, I figured you'd be a good addition to our little group."

"Not interested," Vanitas commented, passing by the two men. "Not really a _team_ player kinda guy."

"Not what your friends in Twilight Town said about you." The sudden mention of his old home stopped Vanitas in his tracks. "It wasn't easy figuring out what I could about you. Luckily I knew the right people. Imagine my surprise when I learned that weren't just a member, but the leader of the Unversed." Vanitas remained silent where he stood. It had been over a year since he had been involved with the Unversed. He'd disbanded them after he learned about 23 of the members shooting up the city. Only his most trusted members knew Vanitas was the leader.

"Which one told you?" Vanitas waited in silence. "Which one? Seifer? Tidus? Or maybe it was Selphie?" He waited but still received no answer. "The list is very small, you might as well tell me."

"There's no need. They're more afraid of what I'd do to them compared to you. While we're on the subject of names, I'm Xehanort. How ever you can just shorten that to Xehan (Zeh-Han). And my second in command here is Briag, but he goes by Xigbar around here."

"What do you want with me?"

Xehan smiled. "Simple. I want you to join us. We're a small group in need of talented individuals. What you did today. Starting that food fight, escaping without actually being seen, and without taking a single hit of food. That kind of talent is rare. I keep my eyes out for people, and losing someone dressed in all black in a sea of students dressed in white and blue is not some everyday thing. You move like a shadow, unseen. And that's the kind of talent I want."

Vanitas stood there contemplating on this offer. "Okay, then here's another question. Why do you want my ' _skills_ ' in your gang?"

"Let's just call it a form of insurance. It pays to be prepared for the worst. And in a way this could work out for you too. A place for you to stay, when and if you need it."

Vanitas was stuck. It was a tempting offer. The only problem was that he didn't want to end up backed into a corner. But he knew what it was like to be a leader. You looked out for your crew, and kept them out of trouble, whether for their sake or your own. He knew the risks involved. "Okay. But understand this. I'm no one's lackey. You will not be using me."

Xehan chuckled at this condition. He then held out his hand with a smile. "Deal." Vanitas shook his hand without hesitation. He knew where he'd stand in this group. The second things went south for him, he'd do what he always did. Vanish. This wasn't Twilight Town, but he could still vanish without a trace. "Come meet the rest of the crew."

"What exactly are you even called?"

"The Seekers of Darkness. Welcome to your new home."

 **A/N: So I realize that this is a short chapter, but I just wanted to push the story along a little along. Let me know what you all thought of this chapter in the review box as I love reading reviews. Until next time!**


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